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What is the meaning of "likeness" in Allah's Almighty saying: "Indeed, you would then be like them," when hearing Allah's verses being disbelieved in and ridiculed in movies and TV series that contain blasphemous scenes, such as claiming to raise the dead, while hating and denying these matters in the heart, but without changing the channel or leaving the gathering? And is this considered disbelief? And does "Indeed, you would then be like them" mean committing an act of disbelief or merely a sin without disbelief?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

Merely watching films that contain disbelief, while rejecting and disapproving of it, does not amount to disbelief. However, it is a sin and a forbidden transgression. Approval of disbelief is disbelief, as indicated by the Almighty's saying: "then indeed, you would be like them" (Quran 4:140). Thus, whoever sits with people of disobedience and does not condemn them becomes like them in sin. One must condemn them or leave their gathering if unable to condemn. The verse indicates the prohibition of sitting with people of falsehood, such as innovators and transgressors, when they are engaged in their falsehood.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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